By Any Other Name
by Angel-with-a-Flower
Summary: Promises, promises. The Doctor now on his 9th Regeneration and Rose has had many adventures through the galaxy. But sometimes, the best adventures are closer to home.
1. Chapter 1

Series: Doctor Who  
_Title:_ By any other name.  
_Summary: Promises, promises. The Doctor (now on his 9th Regeneration) and Rose has  
had many adventures through the galaxy. But sometimes, the best adventures  
are closer to home.  
A/N: I don't own---blablablawoofwoof---except_ _Aaliyah Etymolo. She's allllllllllll mine!  
The character, Kojami, belongs to my boyfriend. Everyone else (aside from the Doctor, Rose and other BBC assortments) belong between the two of us._

"Doctor, doctr, will I die?"  
"Yes my dear, and so will I."  
"How many years until I'm dead?  
"One...two...three...four..."

A group of young girls, all between the ages of six and eight, play on (what they consider) their front walk. It is actually the expanse of cement that connects the front of the apartment complex (where cars or trucks can drop off large loads on Sundays) to the sidewalk and street. The clutch of girls are playing skip-rope.

Across the street, overlooking the scene of the playful rhyming group, a tall lanky man in (what appears to be) his mid-forties and dressed in a black leather jacket, watches the scene with a grim expression. He is known only as the Doctor. As the ninth regeneration of himself, he is rather a bit more of a scarecrow than a few regenerations before, and his ears are bigger once again, but all in all he is satisfied. Normally he is, anyways. At this very moment, he is filled with a chilling dread at the sound of the children's skip-rope rhyme. The haunting melody sweeps over him, seizing his soul in a cold grip. It forcefully reminds him of a terrible nightmare he use to have, one that came true so many years ago...years that have yet to come...

"Doctor? Doctor!"

Twice the young, blond teenager calls his name. He hears her, but cannot wrench his eyes from the children, cannot bring his mind towards the present; he is too anchored in the stream of time. It is only when she reaches a hand out to touch the arm of his black leather jacket does he turn his head to acknowledge her. Looking into his eyes, she is shocked to see a feeling she has never seen in him before, nor thought possible for him to feel; a soulful hurt that seem to hover around him, wrapping him in a blanket of pain. Her foggy-crystal blue eyes bore into his, concern etched into every nanometer of their gaze, from under a tangle of wavy blond hair.

"Doctor...are you alright?"

He flashed her a tight smile, one of reassurance.

"I'm fine Rose."

He answered her, the half-lie slipping easily from his tongue. She didn't believe him, not at first, and he could understand why. He didn't believe himself. Scrounging up an inner happiness, he felt himself actually lighten from the fabricated glowing mood. Yet, he cannot resist gazing once more at the girls across the street, who have already abandoned their haunting rhyme in favor of the less morbid, "Teddy Bear".

"Really, I'm fine. Now," He turned, glancing and pointing up at the apartment complex that loomed behind them. "Your mum is up there. It's May, back in your proper time. She's not suspecting' a thing, and we are here for one purpose. Now, let's complete this purpose and work ourselves on gettin' outta here." Rose gave him a look and grinned, nudging his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"What is it with you an' my mum?" The Doctor frowned, a whiney-seriousness creeping into his voice.

"Hey, she's the one wit' the problem!" He claimed. Matching Rose's grin with an encouraging smile of his own, he pointed the way ahead with a toss of his chin. "Come on then, let's go."

Together, with Rose slightly leading the way, the duo stated towards the apartments. Across the street, the group of girls had moved on inside, sensing an oncoming thunderstorm and choosing to take refuge in the shelter of their respective homes. Only a 1950's styled police call box, painted blue, remained in the empty side street, silently waiting for the storm to begin.


	2. Chapter 2

Jackie Tyler, mother of a traveling teenaged daughter, was scrubbing up in the kitchen of her three-room flat and had settled her mind on the final decision that the pale yellow wallpaper was just too depressing for her. Sure, when it was sunny out, and the sun's rays streamed thought the small kitchen window, the color was perfect. Perhaps it was because of the looming storm clouds outside (or perhaps it was because it was her birthday and she was turning fifty-three), but the color was seriously becoming depressing. Maybe that would be what she would ask Mickey (such a lovely boy. Lovely and dependable.) for her birthday present, helping her repaint the walls. But it would be such a disappointment, losing the dependable color.

The doorbell rang, then a key in the lock turned. Shaking the water from her hands, Jackie grabbed a towel as she made her way to the living room.

"Its open Mickey, as always. Say, what do you think about—" But the figures in her living room was not her daughter's dark-skinned, dependable boyfriend. It was her daughter. "Rose!" Jackie rushed forward with a cry and threw her arms wide, grabbing her smiling daughter in a gripping hug. Rose returned the joyful greeting, and both women chattered happily. The Doctor merely watched on, enjoying the looks on the women's faces, but was stuck by the subtle pang of loneliness he felt at the displayed joy.

Jackie was the first to break the embrace, holding Rose out at arms length. "Here, lemme take a good look at you. Why, you haven't aged a day! Not one day, Rose. You still look exactly as you did, six months ago, when you left..." At the last thought, Jackie let out another cry, gripping Rose's hands in a tight, but loving, squeeze. "Ten seconds! You said ten seconds and then you'd be back!"

"Mum, I'm sorry, I—" Rose tried to edge in a comment, but Jackie barged right on.

"—Haven't hear a thing from you for weeks and weeks! Going crazy not hearin' from you. Thinking the worst—"

"Mum..."

"It's been half a year Rose! I thought you said ten seconds, you did! You said ten seconds, you'd be back in ten seconds..." Jackie trailed off, watching her daughter's expressions waver somewhere between amusement and apprehension. Rose looked helplessly—but happily—over her shoulder at the Doctor. He grinned back and shrugged nonchalantly.

"You did." He confirmed. Jackie frowned over at him.

"You're still here then. At least you're keepin' her safe an' takin' care of her!" Jackie smiled at Rose. "Come on, love, we'll have a bit of tea..." Jackie made her way back to the kitchen, where Rose could hear sounds of a metal kettle being filled. The Doctor, leaning casually against one wall, stared in stunned silence at the sudden mood swings from Rose's mom.

"See, I told you. Its her." He commented as Rose walked by him. She glanced back at him, shaking her head, teasingly. He grinned back and made himself at home, flopping down on the couch. Sighing contently to himself at the comfort of actual furniture, the Doctor glanced out the window. Nasty looking clouds, he thought. And then gave it no more mind.

"I don't know what you see in him Rose, honestly." Jackie exclaimed, settling the pot of water on the warming stove. She turned to look at her daughter, reclining against the counter top with her arms crossed loosely.

"Mum...he's right in the other room." Rose sighed, crossing the small kitchen to stand next to her mother.

"Yah, gettin' comfy on our couch no doubt." Rose laughed at her mother's grumbling comments. Thunder rolled in the distance, making both women glance out of the small kitchen window. "It'll be rainin' soon." The kettle whistled and Jackie turned back to the stove/range. "So, what brings you back, today of all days, after no phone calls for months?"

"I missed you mum." Rose smiled, passing mugs to be filled, "Besides, I figured I should be here, for your birthday. Surprised?"

"Actually," Jackie answered, her voice a little distant as she took the mugs "I was sort of expecting you." Rose nearly dropped the mug, fumbling as she set it down on the counter.

"What...what do you mean?" Rose asked, numbly, in shock.

"Oy, anybody home? Jackie—oh, you're here. Rose in too?" A male's voice broke in, his statements punctuated by the closing slam of the front door. Jackie and Rose traded happy glances.

"No, I'm just here to give 'em two a free vacation, house sitting free of charge. Wot do you think Ricky?'

"Its—"

"Mickey! Rose interrupted before her cross boyfriend could snap a barbed comeback at the Doctor. "How ya doin'?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Mickey! Rose interrupted before her cross boyfriend could snap a barbed comeback at the Doctor. "How ya doin'?" She dashed up to him and threw her arms around his neck. Mickey responded with reassuring pressure, his arms snaking around her back and holding her close.

"How have I been? How have you been? You been gone for _ages_ Rose." They broke apart as Jackie entered the room with a tray of mugs, all filled with steaming tea. Rose flopped down in her favorite armchair, reaching for a mug and noticing (out of the corner of her eye) the Doctor fidgeting uncomfortably off to the side.

"It's been a bit of a trip..." Rose laughed and proceeded to tell of her adventures. The other three sat in silence as she spun the web of tales, the Doctor only piping up to insert a detail or two she had forgotten.

The two travelers left out the more dangerous parts of the stories, for Jackie's sake. She was worried enough as it was over Rose. No need to let her know how dangerous it really was.

Thunder rumbled across the monochromatic sky, making everyone in the area thankful for their safe, warm homes. The four sat in silence at the end of Rose's tale, sipping the tea and letting everything sink in.

"Mum," Rose suddenly broke the spell of silence "you said you were sort of expecting us..." She let the unsaid question hang in the air, watching as Jackie took another sip of tea. She noticed that the Doctor was also peering intently at her mother. She briefly wondered if she should worry, but the qualm was quickly dismissed, as she was too curious about her mother's answer herself.

"Right...well, the oddest thing happened to me yesterday..." Jackie began and as she told her story, she could almost actually see the hospital's light blue corridors and the zoned-out frail members that stalked those halls. "I was working over at the hospital...you know, Rose, the one we use to volunteer together at." Rose nodded, understanding. "Well, I still volunteer down there every Sunday, helpin' out with the half-care patients..."

"Half-care?" The Doctor asked, interrupting Jackie's train of thought.

"The ones that are mostly able to take care of themselves." Rose explained when Jackie did not. "Mum usually works with the minor accident-and-care people."

"Except..." Jackie started, then trailed off back into her thoughts. Rose wanted to ask what was weighing on her mother's mind so desperately, but something told her it was best to suppress that feeling. Something big was going to happen; she could feel it and so could the Doctor. Glancing out of the corner of her eyes again, she was surprised at how quietly he was waiting, much too still for everything to be all right. He felt it too.

"Rose." Jackie began again, breaking off her daughter's glancing thoughts and redrawing her attention. "Do you remember that one girl...the one we use to help? The comatose one?"

"Uhmm..." Rose thought hard for a moment. "Oh...ya. Ya, I remember. You use to wheel her into the sun room each day? She sat so still...never saying anything..." In the back of her mind, a memory nudged at Rose's thoughts, one of staring eyes that never saw anything. Empty eyes, the color of a crystal ocean.

"That's right. I still take care of her from time to time, when there's a shortage of staff, or a surplus of helpers." Jackie continued, some of the usual spark in her voice returning." Yesterday was one of these days. I helped her into her wheelchair---mind you, by helping, I mean placing her there, poor girl's just an empty shell---an' took her to the sunroom, as usual." The spark of pep was slowly draining from Jackie once more, as if the oddness of yesterday's horror was being relived again in her mind. "Everything was as usual. I took her to the usual window, she was watchin' the usual scenery with those blank eyes...I was just sittin' there, thinkin' of you, Rose. Just sittin' there, like usual." Jackie's voice took on a note of desperation, as if she was trying to prove innocence before admitting a crime.

"Mum..." Rose asked in a calm voice, trying to urge her mother along, and softly set her hand on top of Jackie's, to gently soothe her mother. "Mum, what happened?"

Jackie looked over into Rose's eyes and, taking a deep breath, finished.

"She lifted her head, lookin' up as if seeing someone who wasn't there...invisible to everyone else but her...and said one word..." Jackie then turned her head, looking over at Rose's companion, startling him slightly by the heavy seriousness in her eyes.

"She said 'Doctor'."


	4. Chapter 4

"She said 'Doctor'."

Those final three words, which had peaked the Doctor's interest, making him sit up sharply, now froze him, shocking him and the others into a deathly silence. There was no doubt in their minds that the child was calling for a man that she should not know about.

"Are you sure?" The Doctor asked, his question breaking the silence like an angry accusation. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"I'm sure. I'm positive!" Jackie replied, opening her mouth to say more, but the Doctor continued on.

"There is not way she could have meant one of the medical staff? Or wanted an actual doctor?"

"I'm absolutely sure!" Jackie argued, her voice beginning to bristle at the accusing tones. "She definitely was not referring to the staff." She lowered her voice, as if apologetic. "It's just...odd...is all..."

"It's alright mum." Rose assured Jackie, scooting over to sit by her mother. "It's all very, very weird." Glancing over at the Doctor, Rose watched as he hung his head, pressing his hands behind his neck. She knew he was thinking hard, trying to understand and it work it all out. "Don't worry, mum..." Rose then had another thought. "Has...she hasn't said anything else...has she?"

"No. An' thank goodness for small miracles, because once was plenty enough for me. It's creepy, Rose. That girl...So alone, for so long...It can't do a persona any good. All she has in this world are those nurses and doctors---"

"The girl." The Doctor demanded, jumping up and startling the other three. "Does she scream in agony?"

"What---" Jackie was agape, confusion shining on her face at this sudden macabre-like question. Her hesitation seemed to only infuriate and agitate the Doctor's sudden mood. He began to pace furiously.

"Does she scream...when you---well, not you you," He interrupted himself, correcting the grammar error before quickly charging ahead. "When whoever performs a...umah...an X-ray, a cat scan, an MRI, a whatever! Does she scream and writhe in pain and unbearable suffering?" The silence returned, hanging in the air over their heads like a guillotine's blade. Rose looked on in startled astonishment and confusion as the Doctor continued to loom over her mother.

"...yes..." Jackie finally realized, answering meekly. At her response, the Doctor jerkily wrenched away from the group, dashing for the door and leaving with a bang. Jackie, Rose, and Mickey stared at one another, then jumped up to go after him. Just as Rose opened the door; they stopped sharply at the sight of the Doctor, standing directly in their way, obviously about to open the door himself.

"Right...which way then?" He asked lightly.

The car ride to the hospital was an uncomfortable tomb of silence. Rose rode shotgun next to her mother, leaving Mickey in the back with the Doctor. They sat in stony silence, watching the dark gray-drenched landscape slide and glide past like ghosts in a river. The storm seemed to be coming to a head, but refused to rain. As the car approached the hospital, the looming clouds seemed like an ominous sign, making Rose shiver and draw her arms closer. There it was. As Jackie parked the car, the Doctor caught a glimpse of the main gate's sign.

The Albion Hospital.

Trickles of crowds floated down the corridors of Albion Hospital. Doctors, patients, nurses, loved ones; all mingling in a confusing knot, each in their own distinctive garbs, each trying to fight the tide of depression that seemed to fill the hospital's hallways like a flood. The Doctor followed Jackie without protest, something Rose took to heart as an apocalyptic sign that whatever was going on, it was extremely serious. Thunder echoed her thoughts, rumbling and shaking the windows like an earthquake in the sky. She shivered again.

"Here. Room 112." Jackie said, pausing to knock, then opened the door. The trio followed her in, all on baited breath. What they saw confused the hell out of the Doctor.


	5. Chapter 5

"Here. Room 112." Jackie said, pausing to knock, then opened the door. The trio followed her in, all on baited breath. What they saw confused the hell out of the Doctor.

"It's empty." He stated. Looking about, he strode the length of the tiny room, stopping at the window. "It's empty. It shouldn't be empty. Where is she?" His gaze seemed to pin Jackie, who also looked about wide-eyes.

"I...I don't know..." She looked around again as if the missing occupant might be playing a hiding game with them. "She was just here yesterday..."

"Could they have moved her?" Mickey asked, taking a step forward to stand by Jackie, as if picking sides in a fight. Rose shifted slightly, a clipboard then catching her eye, and she stooped to examine it.

"I doubt it...she's been in this room for nearly fifteen years now." Jackie replied, turning towards Mickey. "An' she still looks so young. Like an eight year old. Sleepin' Beauty, the nurses call her. Eternal youth."

"Aye, that sounds about right..." The Doctor commented, his voice still dark at the gravity of his thoughts. "But where _is_ she?" Jackie fell speechless once more.

"Havin' an EEG in the left wing, room 248." Rose piped up, reading from the clipboard in her hands. "It says here that the results of the last nine tests were inconclusive, for reasoning of lack of information, due to the subject's means." She paused, looking up at the Doctor for a brief moment before continuing. "They're attempting another test today at four-thirty."

"That's now." Mickey added, glancing at his wristwatch. The Doctor strode menacingly back across the room, stopping directly in front of Rose's mother and practically loomed over her.

"Where is that room?" He demanded. When Jackie opened her mouth, but nothing came out, he repeated his question. "Where is that room? In a matter of life or death, this child may be in your hands. For all that is right, Jackie Tyler, do as I say and tell me, where is that room!!"

A heavy silence hung in the aftermath's cleared air. Everyone was shocked at the Doctor's sudden forceful outburst at Rose's mother.

"Take the lift at the end of the hall. Fourth floor. To the left." Jackie finally answered, her voice soft, as if in a deep shock. As soon as he got his answer, the Doctor dashed from the room.

"What was all that about?" Mickey asked quietly.

"Dunno." Rose replied, her voice just as soft. "But if we're ever going to find out, we best hurry after him." For a second, no one moved. Then they made a mad dash for the hallway's elevators.

"Well, come on then." The Doctor said, semi-crossly, as he reopened the elevator's doors for them. "If you're coming, you lot better keep up." He watched as the glowing numbers flickered as they changed floors. The trio panted, catching their collective breaths and glared up at him.

"What was that all about then?" Mickey gasped." You know, we're doin' you a favor, helping you out---"

"If I am wrong, so help me, I owe you more than an apology, Jackie Tyler." He replied solemnly, staring up at the rising numbers. "But if I'm right, so help us all."


	6. Chapter 6

On the fourth floor, the hallway's elevator doors opened with a soft 'ding!' that seemed to echo slightly in the empty corridor. Seconds later, the hallway was filled with the sounds of pounding footsteps as the three Londoners ran frantically to keep up with the Doctor. Slipping and practically sliding around the sharp corners, they dashed as they madly navigated the floor's unmarked hallways.

"Doctor, over here!" Rose called out as he skittered past the right door. Executing an incredible (not to mention, visually gravity defying...how did he manage not to fall? Rose wondered) turn, the Doctor rushed back to the group. Peering into a long, thin window of glass set into the door itself, the four of them could hardly see anything that might clue them into what was happening, or if it was even the right room. All they had to go on was the plain numbers printed on the door just below, and to the left, of the windowpane. 248. And that was good enough for the Doctor.

He felt the cool metal of the door handle brush against the palm of his hand as he wound his fingers around it. Taking a silent, deep breath, he suddenly clenched the handle tight and pushed down, yanking the door open and striding through.

"Wait...Doctor!"

He thought he heard Rose's voice call out to him, some kind of warning perhaps, but it just passed over him. He felt like he was moving in a fog, a dream, and all he could see was that one figure in the other room, strapped to a table like a captive prisoner.

A prisoner of Time.

And as he heard the machines begin to him, bring themselves to their mechanical life; he knew that it was all too late. He knew he was too late. Everything seemed to slow down as the machines came online, as people became aware he was there, as several dome ones grabbed his arms, and he watched helplessly as the tiny figure arched her back, opened her mouth and began to scream unmercifully.

Following the Doctor's grand entrance with slightly less noise, Rose noticed that the room they had entered was actually the foreyard to another, larger room than the one they were in. This one was full of scientists, where filing cabinets lined the walls from floor to ceiling and a large console of computer equipment sat in front of an even larger Plexiglass window, where one could peer into the adjoining room.

Rose watched as the scientists at the console jumped up, semi-tackling the Doctor, restraining him by his arms and halting his further access to the room. But that didn't seem to fully stop him. He kept struggling against them, as if he didn't even know that they were there. The strain showed on his face as an unearthly cry began, a screaming that shook Rose to the very bone.

"Shut it off." The Doctor suddenly said, his voice low at first, more like a madman's muttering than anything else, then he kept repeating his message, his voice escalating into a painful shout. "Shut the machines off!! Shut them off! Shut them all off now, can't you see that you're killing her?!" He kept struggling, not so much to throw the scientists off, but to make it to the other room, to ease the howling being.

"Doctor!" Rose cried out, trying to get his attention, trying to break him room the trance-like mood he was in. She succeed partially, she realized, as the Doctor turned his head to look over at one of the scientists who was still seated in front of the computer console, stunned at the sudden interruption.

"Turn the damn thing off," He ordered the young scientist, who seemed even more startled when this passionate madman spoke directly to him. "Can't you see what you're doing? This torture has to stop; you're going to kill her! Please..." A definite note of desperate pleading had entered the Doctor's voice. "Put this to an end." Shaken, the young scientist sat frozen for a moment, then swallowing hard, nodded and turned back to the console. A sequence of buttons were hit, and the Doctor could hear the machines falter, and then power down. Rose watched as the Doctor physically relaxed, his struggling, which he vainly had struggled towards, ceased all together, and the weary scientist---with coaxing from Rose's mother---released their grip on him. Stumbling forward slightly, the Doctor bent over the computers, bracing his hands on the console and, leaning forward, peered thought the Plexiglass into the adjoining room.

Rose noticed his eyes never leave the slender frame of the figure inside.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi. Yes. I suck. I know I promised more---a lot more---back long ago. It's nearly been a month or so since I last posted. All I can say is that I'm sorry and that school sucks. Its sucks your energy, it sucks your time, and it just sucks. So here's a short filler chapter, and I'm currently working on the next two---that's right, TWO---chapters, to which I will try to have up before midnight or one am at the latest!! Thank you for bearing with me, and I hope to here more from all of you again!!!...please, come back..._

...Rose noticed his eyes never leave the slender frame of the figure inside... 

As the scientists backed away, tending to other businesses, each with a glaring eye kept on the intruders, Rose stepped forward to help the Doctor.

"Doctor..." She asked tentatively, not sure what the rest of her own sentence would be. A question? A demand for an explanation? A word or two to comfort him? She didn't know any more than he could. Everything seemed uncertain now. Reaching out her hand, she was about to place it gently upon his jacket-clad shoulder when he spoke.

"...is she?" Rose drew her hand back, then leaned forward.

"What? Doctor, I can' hear you..."

"Where is she?" He repeated, louder this time, and suddenly turned his head to look directly at Rose. Startled, not by his sudden actions, but at the pain that filled his eyes, Rose took a step back. "Where is she, Rose? Where did they take her?" The Doctor pleaded for an answer, holding his hand out towards her like a lost child. Rose had never seen the Doctor so...so helpless...

"Down back to 'er room, I think." Mickey answered, surprising Rose out of her trance-like moment. He was standing to the side of another bank of computers, staring at the two of them absently, as if watching everything from a distance. "Come on, your mum's already gone back there."

"Right...be a moment." Rose nodded to him, and then turned back to the Doctor.

Gently taking him by the hand, she pulled him close, murmuring, "Come on, Doctor...it'll be alright...Mickey says they took her away from here, back to her room, an' mum's with her now. Come on Doctor..." Mutely, he straightened himself, and moved trance-like with her towards the door.

The three of them wandered down the hallways back to the elevator, each with the loudest silence ever ringing in their ears.


	8. Chapter 8

Thunder roared, masking over the sound of the elevator's ding! and the doors opening, revealing the three silent occupants to the crowded halls. Mickey took the lead, allowing Rose to follow second, with the staggering Doctor in tow. Room 112 once more, Rose thought and the trio paused before the open doorway. Oddly hesitating for a moment, the Doctor took the lead and entered the room.

Jackie looked up at his entrance, but said nothing. Beside her, in the hospital's bed, laid the small figure they had seen in the secondary lab room. Youthful features, soft wispy blond hair...Rose gasped as she peered at the figure from around the Doctor's shoulder.

"I've seen her before!"

"Of course you have, Rose." Her mother replied, taken back at the outburst. Rose shook her head, taking a short step back.

"No, I mean, I've...I've seen her, I've talked to her...Doctor! We've..." She turned, shocked at the recognition of this stranger, and gaped up at his stoic, faraway expression. "We've seen her before."

"By accident." He said, neither agreeing with nor disproving Rose's shaken exclamations. He reached a tentative hand out, brushing the long bangs back from the pale child's forehead. "Oh, but such an accident. We never should have been there...This is all my fault..." He murmured low and, withdrawing his hand, gripped the metal rail around the bed until his knuckles turned white. "I'm so...so sorry..." He whispered.

Rose looked on; unaware of the odd glances exchanged between her mother and Mickey, unaware of the room before her, or the suddenly loud ticking of the hospital room's clock, no longer even aware of the Doctor, with his bowed head and guilt-ridden thoughts. Her mind was in another place, another time, where she had first seen this survivor of an impossible time...

_Rose felt a smile growing on her face as she looked across the TARDIS' consul at the grinning Doctor. _

"_Where are we?" She tried to ask, but her question was playfully shot down as the Doctor darted around the room, flicking at consul switches and playing at the various knobs and dials._

"_WHEN are we." was the only reply she got. Twisting around, she caught his eye as he paused for only a brief moment, his grin growing ever wider, before he straightened up and slowly sauntered towards the TARDIS' doors. "We are here."_

"_But where..." Rose tried to ask, interrupting herself with laughter at the Doctor's playful antics. Finally surrendering to figuring things out for herself, she followed the Doctor's direction and, sidestepping him and his guard-like outstretched arm pointing to the door, stepped out._

"_Why...its Earth." She looked around, and then turning back to him, asked, "We're on Earth?"_

"_Earth. Twentieth century. Not too far off from your own time." He nodded to her. "Only just a few decades. Knew a few good men here..."_

_Before Rose could ask who on earth he might know living in an English woods, they were interrupted by a third voice._

"_Five rounds, rapid...bam! bam! bam!" Turning around quickly, Rose and the Doctor were confronted with a small girl, dressed in a simple jumper with what looked like an oversized military jacket thrown over her small frame. The word "UNIT" was stamped across a patch on the shoulder. A stick was clutched in her fist, her arm hanging loosely at her side. "Hullo. Am I to go with you now?"_

"_Um...excuse me...we're a bit lost." Rose tried to look both at the Doctor and the child all at the same time, resulting in a dizzying effect. "See, we were traveling and---"_

"_Oh, no one is ever lost. They just don't know where they are at all times." The young girl interrupted, her expression sober and her voice solemn. _

"_Right...well...we're not from around here and...Well...um..." Rose turned to the Doctor for help, but was surprised at his stilled expression. Standing perfectly still, as if in a trance, he said nothing to help the situation, but seemed as if the Doctor could not break his eyes away from the child stranger, even as she approached him._

"_Hullo, Doctor." The girl said, staring up at him._

"_How could you possibly know who---" He tried to ask, but abandoned his question. Rose was shocked at their exchange, and noticed a waver of tears in the Doctor's voice._

"_You're my Doctor, silly. I always know, and I always will." The girl stated, giving him a slight smile. "Am I to go with you now?"_

"_...no." The Doctor said, with a quick swallow and a slight shake of the head. "No, you cannot come with me now. You..." His voice seemed to falter once more, but he continued on. "You are to stay here now. Stay in these woods till morn'." Nodding his head mutely, he finally seemed able to break his eyes away. "Stay an' be a good girl. That's a good gal..." _

_Rose could no longer tell if his mutterings were directed to himself or the girl. Before she could ask, he raised his hand towards her. _

"_Rose, get back in the TARDIS..."_

_Something in his voice told her not to ask any questions..._


	9. Chapter 9

"_Rose, now. Back in the TARDIS." The Doctor repeated, pointing indirectly at her, and she suddenly felt that this---whatever this was, whatever was happening, that was going on---was wrong. Something was wrong about this, and the only thing she wanted right then was to be somewhere---anywhere---else. Slowly, Rose backed against painted sides of the time-traveling machine and slipped inside; the Doctor only a few paces after her. The last thing Rose saw was the little girl, staring at them through the doorway before the Doctor slammed the doors shut and, throwing himself at the consul, sent them off to anywhere but there._

_"Doctor..." Rose tried to ask, reaching out, but he just wrenched himself away and stalked to the other side of the consul. "Doctor...what--"_

_"That was wrong, Rose." He seethed, bracing his hands on the metal frame and hung his head. "It was wrong! We should never...never have been there...never have been able to **be** there!" He slammed both palms angrily against the TARDIS' consul. "WE SHOULD NOT HAVE---" He began to scream at the panels while rubbing at his smarting hands._

_"Doctor!?"_

_"Never again, Rose. That should never have happened, and I'll make sure it will never happen again..."_

_"But...Doctor!" She finally grabbed purchase of his coat and he turned to her. "Doctor..._

...What happened?" Glancing up from his seated position, the Doctor stared futilely up at her. "That day...what happened, Doctor?" For a moment, she didn't think he would answer her. Then, rubbing his hands against his face, he sat back and, glazing vacantly at the floor, answered.

"It was a break." He began. "A break in the time stream. You see, I was already there...well, not me-me..." Waving a limp hand in a dismissing gesture at her, he shrugged, a motion the listeners found very un-Doctor-ish. "You'll understand one day. But I should not have been there, Rose. The TARDIS should not have brought us there, it should have been impossible..."

"But...but isn't that what you do?" Rose asked meekly. "The impossible?"

"Oh no, Rose...not like that..." He looked up at her in such desperately raw sorrow that Rose felt herself be sucked down into his depression. "Never like that..."

Silence filled the room once more.

"Then...she knew you then...?" Rose asked, staring at the sleeping figure on the bed. The Doctor nodded silently.

"W-who is she?" Rose hesitated to ask. Releasing a deep sigh, the Doctor shifted forward in the chair once more and gently took the unconscious girl's hand.

"She's my daughter."

"WHAT?!" The word seemed to explode from Jackie Tyler's lips before anyone else could get a breath. "What do you mean, your daughter?! You mean I've been letting my daughter traipse around who-knows-where with a married man?! What the hell do you think--"

Rose didn't hear the rest of what her mother would say, for the world had gone silent. Rocked to the core by what the Doctor had said, she blankly looked towards Mickey, but he seemed just as shocked as she. Falling back to bump lightly against the windowsill, Rose turned her head to rest against the cool glass.

Outside, the rain had finally began to fall.


	10. Chapter 10

"---believe you!! What kind of person do you thing yourself as, I ask you that! Not telling anyone--"

"The hell kind of person to you take us for, Doctor? First you--"

Rose became aware of the voices shouting around her, and turned away from the rain spattering against the window.

"—I'll tell you what, I will, I'll tell you that--"

"Leave 'em alone."

The room went silent, as even Rose was shocked at what she had said. Defending the Doctor? Yes...even after what he said, even after he had rocked her world for a second time (and this turn of events less pleasant than the last), she would defend him. To the very end.

"Rose...but he...but he just..." Mickey trailed off, pointing accusingly at the Doctor in a futile attempt to sway her. Swallowing hard, Rose nodded.

"Ya, I know what he said...I was 'ere, wasn't I? But doesn't he get the chance to have a personal life, too? A chance to explain...?" She glanced over at the Doctor, her eyes all but begging for him to suddenly burst into laughter, to tell her it was all a joke.

But he said nothing. Just looked at her.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you all to leave for now. Visiting only allows two people at a time..." A nurse interrupted, surprising the group.

"I'm not leaving." The Doctor said defiantly, his posture relaxed, but the one hand was still clutched at the sidebar, knuckles white.

"Me too." Rose said after a moment. Jackie turned, mouth open, ready to dispute the issue, but Rose just looked at her. "We'll stay 'til visiting's over." The nurse nodded back and smiled, ready to get back to other orderly things. Mickey stalked out of the room after her, leaving Jackie to linger for a few moments.

"Are you sure..." Rose's mother left the sentence hanging, but the both knew what it meant. Hundreds of questions, all wrapped up into one neat, tidy silence. Nodding again, Rose gave her mum a quick squeeze and swallowed.

"We'll be fine. Why...why don't you an' Mickey grab a bit to munch...Visiting's end will be soon, so we wont be long..." Reluctantly, Jackie nodded and left. Rose looked over at the Doctor, hovering over the hospital bed, and wondered briefly if it would be fine. Never know until it's done...taking a deep breath, she slowly walked back across the room to stand by the Doctor.

"She isn't." He said after a moment. Unsure what to say, Rose just glanced up at him. "She isn't really mine. Her...her mother an' I were the best of friends. When...when she an' her husband passed away, I promised I'd take care of her. Bashing job so far..." Hanging his head low for a moment, the Doctor then glanced at Rose. "If it makes anything change, she's not really mine."

"She...she isn't then...?" Rose gently placed her hand over his fist, reassuringly. Looking down, the Doctor shook his head and gave a futile smile.

"No."

"Then...then why..."

"Say it? Well...she might as well be...Rose, when she was young, oh the adventures I would take her on..." Smiling to himself, he turned back to Rose and she could see that spark began to return to his eyes. "One time, took her to the Moons of Marinus...dingy ol' place..."

"Loved every second of it?" Rose teased.

"Loved every second of it!" He admitted and they laughed. Happy that she had managed to pull the Doctor out from his funk, Rose was committed to keep him that way.  
As the Doctor's laughter wound down, Rose settled herself into the chair next to him.

"...tell me more?" She prompted. Hesitating for a moment, the Doctor then glanced down at the child, back at Rose and then sat down.

"Ya...alright..." He nodded. "There was this one time, see? Where we had taken her across the sandy ice caps of TeshSevateem..."

"...and so please stop being mad at him, mum," Rose finished filling Jackie and Mickey in on the actual story behind the Doctor's relationship with the unconscious child. Jackie was reluctantly silent during the tale, constantly sipping from her tea to keep herself from interrupting Rose. Mickey just sulked. "He only did what he had to do."

"But...but why did he not just say she was his godchild? Why all the mess about it all?" Jackie asked, disconcerted, and set the mug down on the hospital's table.

"Why'd he leave her?" Mickey muttered, watching streams of people trickle in and out of the waiting room's cafe. Rose opened her mouth to speculate, but found she had no answer. The Doctor never did answer that one question, and listening to all his wild tales and adventures had sidetracked Rose.

"Well..." Rose tried to come up with something fast.

"Well?" Her mother echoed, a demanding tone creeping in behind the words.

"Well...well, I don't know, alright." Rose admitted, then jumped tracks to a defensive tone, ready to defend the Doctor. "But I'm sure he had a very...good..." Rose frowned as several nurses ran by, followed by what could only be described as a flock of very upset orderlies. "Good reason...hang on..." Picking up her mother's empty mug and standing up to stretch, she feinted casual as she walked over to the main counter.

"...can't believe it when the call came in..."

"...yes, room 112..."

Closing her eyes, Rose counted to ten. And then ten again. Then, taking a deep breath, she turned back to her mother and Mickey, but before she could reach the duo to tell them what she had overheard, an alarm began to blare, startling everyone in the room.

Quickly, glances were exchanged and the trio jumped into high gear, rushing along the crowded corridors, hoping that this mess wasn't what they thought it might be.

Reaching room 112, Rose stepped inside first, glanced around, and put a hand to her forehead.

"Oh, Doctor..." She whispered.


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh, Doctor..." She whispered. Running her hand through her hair, she took a shaky breath and let it out slowly. "What have you done?"

Facing her was a room full of people. Doctors, nurses, scientists; all crowded around the small hospital bed and talking loudly over on another. The only thing that was missing was...no, make that two things...

"What the hell--" Mickey asked, suddenly right behind her and peered over Rose's shoulder at the crowd.

"The Doctor's gone, and he's taken the girl." Rose tried to tell them over the din, hoping the room full of executive officials in charge of running this place wouldn't overhear her as well. A girl could get blamed for these sorts of things...

"Wha---well, I knew he was no good! Just swanning off, and with an unconscious child! Why I--"

"Mum!" Rose snapped, trying to get a word in edge wise. "Look, we need to find them. I dunno what he's planning on doing, but..."

"Could he be thinking of just...you know...leaving?" Mickey suggested, a careful tension in his voice letting Rose know he wasn't trying to hurt her with the idea. But that note of hope was there anyways.

"Couldn't be." Rose replied adamantly. Upon receiving looks from both her mother and friend, she elaborated with "The TARDIS is back in the alley behind our house, remember? There isn't any possible way he could run all the way there, with the girl, in this weather." Rose cast a glance at the windows. Lightning flashed, illuminating the rain as it pelted the glass. The rain...

_"You know, she use to love the rain." The Doctor sighed, leaning back in the hospital chair. A smile from Rose prompted him to tell more. "She use to go out, and play in the rain, even after all the other children had been called inside. She'd..." He paused, chuckling at a fond memory. "She'd go out after the sun had chased away all the clouds and go 'save' the worms and the slugs and the snails from getting dried out."_

_"Really?" Rose laughed._

"She use to love the rain..." Repeating in a whisper, Rose suddenly turned back to her mother and Mickey, giving them a quick glance before running from the room.

"Wait, Rose!" Mickey called after her. Both he and Jackie dashed after the fleeting form, taking skidding turns around the crowded hallways, and finally catching up at the lift, with an inpatient Rose waiting for the doors to open. "What was that all about, then?" He demanded, leaning up against the wall as Jackie tried to catch her breath.

"He told me." Rose explained. "He told me that she use to love the rain. That she was so happy, so enthusiastic, so..."

"Alive?" Mickey filled in the last word, comprehension forming on his face. "An' that's where you think he took 'er? Outside?"

"Outside." Rose nodded. Thunder grumbledin the distance and the hospital's lightning fixtures flickered. "And up."

"UP?!" Jackie yowled, startling both teenagers. "Are you insane?" Straightening up, Jackie pointed a threatening finger at Rose and started in on her lecturing, mothering mode. "There is no way you are going up there on that roof. It's too dangerous! Its raining and there's lightning, the wind is howling and--"

"Mum." Rose stated, her voice low and unwavering. Behind her, the elevator's doors opened, allowing the people within to spill out and join the crowded, streaming halls. "He's up there, and I am going to help him." And with that, she stepped backwards into the lift. With a moment's hesitation, Mickey joined her.

Jackie just watched them, wordlessly. Then, with a sigh, joined the two in the lift.

Standing beside Rose, she sighed again.

"Well, if you're going ta go and get yourself killed over this...this man," Jackie groaned in a miffed tone, punching at the elevator's buttons. "Then I might as well go with you. At least it'll be the one time I can." Smiling tightlipped at her mother, Rose grasped Jackie's hand as the doors slid close.

Thunder rumbled in the now-closer distance as the doors slid open once more, this time opening on a surprisingly empty hallway. On the gray-washed wall, the ghost of a spray-painted floor number was lit in the lightning's glow, now faded from time. At the end of the hall was a small set of stairs, and atop them laid the door for the roof. A reachable goal, which cast an unsettling feeling in Rose's stomach as she reached for the knob. For a moment, she hesitated. Should she? Dare she?

Stepping out into the night, Rose raised a hand to her face, shielding her eyes from the howling wind, which whipped strands of her long blond hair across her face. The icy rain stung as it lashed her arms and soaked through her shirt. Lightning flashed, illuminating the edges of the rooftop and its scattered iron appliances. Vents, filters, generators, all were there and then gone in the blink of light. But where was he?

"There!" Mickey shouted over the screaming wind, and Rose started, forgetting that she wasn't alone in the dark. Turning, she could see her mother huddled against the doorway, Mickey with one foot in and one foot out, pointing out into the dark. Twisting back around in the wind, Rose squinted into the darkness, praying for another set of lightning to light her way.

Amen.

A tongue of lightning forked out of the thunderheads, lighting that small square of world up like day and finally Rose could see what Mickey had seen moments ago.

The crouched figure diagonal from them.

"Doctor!!" Rose shouted over the wind, but her voice was lost in the crack of thunder. The sound, not surprisingly louder out here than it was inside, rolled over them like the roar of a monstrous beast. Making her way through the weather, Rose ducked down behind the Doctor's hunched form and called to him again. Reaching out, Rose shifted her weight and knelt next to him, a hand on his slick leather coat's shoulder for both their support. "Doctor?"

"..." She saw his lips move in the flash of light, but couldn't hear the words. Leaning closer, she took in his appearance. Kneeling on the roof's gravel, the Doctor cradled the unconscious child in his arms, shielding her from the majority of the wind.

He looked straight up at Rose, startling her with the heavy despair in his eyes, and Rose knew that it wasn't just the rain that streaked his face and cast an aged look into his features. "Oh, Rose..."

She would not, could not believe that the Doctor wasn't able to revive the child and save the day. That was what he did. He made things better. It wasn't fair for him to not be able to help the girl, not when she was the only other link to his life. He's done so much good...why shouldn't the scale tip his way when he needed it? It just wasn't fair...

"She isn't coming back...can't find her way back..." The Doctor was murmuring to the rain. Leaning his head over the unconscious child cradled in his lap, the Doctor did something that Rose couldn't see. Perhaps it was the trick of the lightning, but she thought she saw something glitter... "Needs to find her way..." The Doctor's words carried over the rain, and Rose watched helplessly as he tipped his head back in futile.

It was as if he was giving up; the struggle was over. Would the memories work? Would they all just be swept away in the rain?


	12. Chapter 12

_Thank you everyone for waiting so long!!! I hope this makes up for it!_

Rose felt her eyes welling up, and found herself crouching beside her fallen friend, her arms wrapped tightly around his soaked shoulders. She found herself wishing, almost willing the unconscious figure back to life. If this child meant so much to him... why couldn't the universe cut him just one break? After all he's done...please...

The small, soaked bundle in his arms stirred, then lied still.

As lightning split the darkened sky in two, Rose held the grieving Doctor closer. Her hands found purchase in the folds of his rain-slicked leather jacket as she clutched at him in attempt to aid his suffering plight. Thunder rumbled across the storm tossed sky as she pressed her forehead to his impassive shoulder and whispered

"Oh, Doctor..."

"Doc... tor..." a weak voice echoed Rose's sorrowed words, a ghost in the wind. Jolted, Rose opened her eyes and was surprised to find the unconscious form stirring once more, weakly blinking as the cold rain intermittently hit her small face. Rose and the Doctor held their breath, afraid to stir and end this dream. Shifting in his arms, the child looked up at him, sleepy-eyed squinting in the dark. "My...Doctor...?"

"Yes. Oh yes, I am your Doctor!" He replied joyously, raw emotions coursing in each and every word as he embraced the awaken girl. "And I am so, so sorry...I'll never leave you again...never...never, ever, never...never alone again..." Rose smiled at this exchange, swiping at the tears that mingled with the rain coursing down her cheeks. Every once in a while, she supposed, the universe was fair after all...

Rubbing at his arm, she spoke over the thunder "Come on...we should get 'er somewhere warm!" Nodding, he stood with ease and together, they mad it back to the hospital's roof entrance, where Jackie and Mickey helped them back inside.

"Right," Mickey was quick to speak, taking lead and ushering them towards the concrete stairs. "They're still looking for us, so I think its time to knock off an' go home." Rose nodded, pressing her hand against the Doctor's back to stead herself as they scrambled down each stony flight.

"...who...?" The girl asked weakly, blinking against the dimly flickering florescent lights.

"Everyone. Doctors, nurses, po po, you name it." Rose filled her in. "Anyone in this building is looking for you. You're quite popular, actually." She joked.

"Blimy...is that—" Jackie asked, pausing briefly on one of the many landings.

"Yup." Rose urged her mother on as the Doctor breezed past both of them.

"Blimy" was all she had to say. The four continued on in silence, save for the pounding sounds of their feet slapping against the harsh concrete slabs.

Pausing briefly to check for any searchers remaining in the main hallways, they slowing made their way back to the entrance.

"Wait," Rose realized, "They'll have someone posted at the front to catch us, wont they?"

"Well, does this place have another exit?" The Doctor asked, admitting to Rose's logic with a gruff and grumpy tone, shifting the small child as she struggled to look about. Rose just nodded.

"Side doors. Four the less emergencies." Jackie filled him in.

"Right. Plan B then."

Seven minutes later, the four of them found themselves hiding in a storage cupboard.

"Ok, so guards posted on the side exits instead of the fronts." Rose panted, her back pressed up against the closed door, as if barricading anyone else from coming in.

"Real smooth then." Mickey snapped, doubled over and resting on a crate of supplies.

"Right, like I was to know they'd think of this first." She shot back. Tired from running and the over stimuli of adrenaline, she glared at him in the gloom. Mickey opened his mouth to shoot off again when Jackie raised her hands.

"Alright, enough!" Jackie interludes and everyone fell back into silence.

"So, back to plan A then." The Doctor spoke in the darkness. "We go back to the front an' leave."

"But what about the guards?" Jackie demanding, turning her parenting glare on him.

"Which? The ones at the door behind Rose, or the ones at the very front? Did anyone actually see anyone guarding the front door?" He shot back. Silence was his answer. "Right, so, like I said, plan A. We go back, we scope it out," He stressed the words, turning towards Jackie with an expression of impatience revealed in the dim lighting. "An' then we form a plan of attack an' finally leave."

"Attack?" The girl spoke up once more, startling everyone else into action.

"Pure expression" Rose assured her. Shooting an unreadable glance at the Doctor, Rose opened the door a crack and peered outwards. "All clear...let's go."

He was right, of course.

Rose wouldn't have admitted it, but the Doctor was right, as he usually was. There wasn't a soul at the main doors, even the receptionist was missing. The group breezed out of the hospital and back out into the storm.

The rain had abated slightly, drizzling soundlessly now, muted whispers released as each raindrop hit it's target. Rose risked another side-glance at the Doctor and was surprised to at how tense he still looked. His features, in profile, were fierce and hawk-like; studying every little thing in sight unmercifully, as if ready for any sort of attack, scrupulously watching the misting lotted landscape, wary of each and every car and it's shadow. Perhaps it was just the temperature, but something sent a shiver down her spine.

Rose was shaken out of her thoughts by the sound of a starting car. Looking about, she realized that she was standing beside her mother's car; hand on the door latch, staring at the Doctor. To her second surprise, he was staring impassively back.

"Well, com on, you two! Before they find us..." Jackie called out from the driver's window, shaking Rose out of it. With one last glance at the Doctor; she got into the car wordlessly.

As she was buckling her belt, a shout was heard from across the parking lot. Straighten to see past the Doctor's frozen form, Rose could see a man in a pale blue security uniform, jogging towards them.

"Go!" The Doctor shouted, diving in the car and slamming the door shut. In his process, the newly conscious child was dumped onto the seat ahead of him and tumbled unceremoniously into Rose's lap.

"...hullo." The girl said upbeat after reorienting herself.

"Hullo yourself. I'm Rose."

"Nice ta meet you, Rose." The child replied back. For a brief moment, Rose pondered why the whole polite exchange didn't strike her as odd, but quickly shrugged it off in favor of watching out the back window in case they were possibly pursued.

"Got off clear!" She announced, changing the car's entire atmosphere. Laughing and cheering, they spoke in relieved tone.

"Thank goodness for the idiots who hired the overweight, lazy rent-a-coppers!" Mickey crowed and his statement was met with bountiful cheer. Leaning over to buckle the child into the middle seat, Rose notice that the Doctor, while somewhat relaxed, was not celebrating, but seemed lost in perturbed thought. Biting her lip, Rose hoped whatever plagued his thoughts were not real trouble to come.

As they made their way through the London traffic back to Jackie's apartment, no one noticed that the rain had finally abated, nor the brief and weak rays of sunlight that managed to force their way through the gray filtered clouds.


	13. Chapter 13

"...had these since Rose was just a tot." Jackie's voice drifted thought the apartment as she flitted from room to room. "Thank goodness I had them in storage. Was gonna give 'em off to the drive next week!" She stated, finally reappearing in the living room. Offering several folded articles, Jackie watched as the small child hesitantly took the clothes, studying the bold colors.

"Thank you, ma'am." She finally replied, her small voice carrying surprisingly well, and then looked about for a proper room to leave into.

"Oh, nonsense!" Jackie replied, waving the child off. "I bet you'll feel much better once you're in proper clothes and have a nice cuppa tea in you. And call me 'Jackie' dear! You can use Rose's room to change..." She finally noticed the girl's fidgeting and pointed down the hallway. "Second door on the left." Pausing for a moment to make sure she had gotten the room right, Jackie then turned back to the rest of the crew. "Cuppa tea'll do us all some good."

When Jackie turned to go fix the drinks, the Doctor hoped the room would once again turn to silence, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

"Such a polite little thing." Jackie continued. So much for luck. Reappearing, she set the tray with mugs down on the coffee table. "Did something right, I suppose."

"Mum!"

"What dear? I'm only saying..." Jackie began to defend her words, an innocent expression on her face and a spice in her voice.

"Fi'salright." The girl interrupted, promptly coming back into the main room. Rose smiled as she took in the child's appearance, a tee-shirt draped over the small frame, and sailor-blue trousers, scuffed at the knees, ending a few inches above the ankles. She could remember herself, about eight or nine, wearing those same clothes.

"Oh, how darling!" Jackie exclaimed as a whistle sounded. "That'll be the kettle, go on an' get settled love, tea will be out in a minute."

Looking about, the girl seemed lost for a moment, then settled on an armchair as a perch. The room returned to blissful silence. That is, until Mickey's cell phone rang, startling everyone into slightly jumping.

"Sorry," Mickey apologized, wincing and reading the id screen. "I've got to take this." Five minutes later, he excused himself from tea, saying how he was needed back at home and bade everyone goodbye.

Pausing at the doorway, he suddenly leaned down and whispered to Rose, "Lemme know everything when I get back, right?" And then he was gone.

"So, tea then!" Jackie blustered in, a grin on her face. Setting down a tin of biscuits, she had sat for a total of fifty seconds before asking "So...you're it then." and receiving odd and disbelieving looks from both Rose and the Doctor. The girl was, however, unfazed and continued sniffing at the tea.

"Mum!"

"Simply perfect question—"

"What's that then?" The Doctor jumped in on the verbal fray. "Interrogations seeming a lot friendlier now..."

"Wow..." The child piped up calmly, speaking over the trio. "This is rather good...tea?"

"Irish hazel an' mint." Jackie nodded, ignoring the side looks of disbelief from Rose and open hostility from the Doctor. "Grand, isn't it? Picked it up on a tip from Lynda down the street, she says it's smashing, especially against the cold..." At these words, the child looked away, towards the veiled windows, her eyes growing distant and clouded.

"Doctor..." Rose leaned over after a couple of minutes, placing a tentative hand on his jacket cuff and whispering. "Is she alright?" Shrugging, the Doctor looked over and nodded

"Oy." He stated loudly, making the child looked back at him, bewildered, and then smiled. She smiled back and sipped at the tea. "Right as rain." He shrugged, smiling at Rose.

"Doctor, she—" Rose began, but was cut off very quickly by the Doctor lunging forward and grabbing the tin.

"Biscuits?" He offered. Frowning, Rose buffered his hand and leaned forward.

"Are you sure she's alright? Doctor, we don't even know what caused her..." Rose struggled to find a more sensitive word than 'coma', and decided to skip it all together with a shake of her head. "Or if she's properly fine or if it might happen again." With an increasing frown, she searched in his eyes for any sign of concern or worry at her ideas, but his gaze was distant and unattached. Sighing, Rose glanced down at the carpet in defeat. "Look, we don't even know her name—"

"Oh, well, if that's all you wanted to know," He scoffed laughingly, setting down the tin and sitting back relaxed once more. "Then you should have just asked."

"Wait...why didn't you say anything then?" Rose demanded, glancing quickly from the child to the Doctor. "If you knew."

"Well, everybody has a name, Rose...that's sort of a given, now isn't it?" He deflected her astonished anger with a shrug. "Bit daft, not thinking she's got one..."

"Why didn't you _say_ something then? Introduced her or what?" Rose inquired once more, determined to stay on the topic. Just like the Doctor to steer the argument into a ramble elsewhere.

"So much for learned manners..." Jackie stated, addressing it into her tea. The child smiled, watching each speaker with a look of humor across her face, as if at a clown's tennis match.

"Hey, off points on that." The Doctor directed with faux concern. Rose frowned at her mother's rudeness, then turned back on the Doctor.

"She's got a point. You should have said something."

"You should have asked." He countered. "Everyone's got a name. We very well couldn't keep calling her 'the Girl', now could we?"

"Why not? We call you 'the Doctor'." Rose pointed out. There was no rebuttal, and the room grew silent.

"Al." The girl finally broke the weighty silence. All heads turned her way. "I'm Al."

"Well, nice to meet you Al. How ya likin' the tea?" Jackie smiled over at the girl, setting her own cup, finished, on the tea tray. Al grinned to herself and chuckled at this sudden hospitability in the mist of previous spat.

"Its...lovely. Really, truely good."


	14. Chapter 14

"Its...lovely. Really, truly good." Kicking her feet a bit, Al hummed to herself and sipped on the tea. Jackie and Rose exchanged glances, and then looked at the Doctor, who was trying to avoid their looks by gulping down his own drink. Jackie eventually gave up with a sigh and resolved to heading into the kitchen for more biscuits.

"Whelp, lovely tea, really, but we better be—" He tried to find an excuse to be out of that apartment, but Rose latched onto his arm as he set down the mug.

"We. Are. Staying." She told him, hissing the words between gritted teeth. Glaring meaningfully at him, she insisted on the stopover. "Listen, I haven't seem my mum in ages. We are staying...for at least a week."

"Two days."

"Four. Plus the upcoming weekend." Rose countered, hoping he'd take the bait. Stoically, he glared back, then Rose saw some sort of flickering in his eyes. Something shifted, changing, and she could have sworn that there was a look of sadness in there; as if remembering a feeling or event long ago. Whatever it was, it changed his mind and he sighed.

"Fine. Four and holiday." He agreed, raising a finger in warning. "But no more. I'm not set with the indoor living-likes."

"Deal." Rose agreed and beamed at him. "Mum, you need any help there?" She offered, picking up the empty mugs on the table and heading into the kitchen after her mother. The Doctor found himself staring after Rose, then shook his head and turned away.

Al just smiled slyly at him.

"Wot?" He asked. When she didn't reply, he repeated himself, leaning forward. "Wot?!"

"You know better." Al finally answered with a smile. Rose, about to walk back in, had heard the beginning of the quiet exchange and lingered in the doorway, watching, out of sight. It was almost disturbing; how calmly the child spoke, leaning forward on the edge of chair she was perched upon, a knowing smile, like a wolf's, and a look in the eyes that seemed to know too much. Rose shivered, despite herself. "You know better, and you knew better, and you will always know. That is our curse."

"Curse of all time, till the end of times." The Doctor agreed, leaning forward still. "But that's a paradox."

"To learn?" The child scoffed. "Hardly."

"To tense. Tensing knowledge is never done right." And with a smirk, he leaned back in his own chair, obviously done with the conversation. Al blinked, then laughed quietly.

"Too right." Al agreed. Something had happened, Rose knew; something in the underlying context of their discussion, some sort of hidden dialect, or choice words, something that made her shiver again. There was something wrong about that exchange, about the child, something old and strange. "As always."

"Mmn...always is never." He disagreed and Rose detected a sad tone in his voice. Al must have picked up on it as well, for she stopped the Cheshire-cat grin and leaned forward to pat his hand.

"Never is always, again and the same." She murmured, soothingly. "But it doesn't have to be."

"And wont. It never will again. Not since..." The Doctor trailed off, and their hands gently grasped one another's. "You felt it, you knew."

"I know. It was the cause, then the end." The child nodded, her face full of unspoken wisdom. Letting her hand slip from his, the Doctor leaned back and ran his left hand over his face, a sign of weariness.

"Will it ever end?" He asked himself, addressing the ceiling. A side-glance revealed to him the worried looking Al and he smiled lightly to himself. "Let's hope not." Rose wasn't sure what just happened, but as she leaned against the kitchen door jam, she grasped her arms and found her thoughts echoing the Doctor's words.


	15. Chapter 15

A heavy darkness draped over Rose's heart, sending a chill up and down her spine. What if it _did_ end one day? It is inevitable, right? The eventual end of all things? A clock winds down, a picture fades away, and people die...

Shaking off the feeling, Rose swiped at a single escaping tear and rubbed her arms briskly. There was no need for this! They returned to her proper time on her request: to see her mother on Jackie's birthday. She wanted to celebrate with her mother, and that is what she will do!

"Oy! There you are." The Doctor teased in a showy voice as Rose reentered the living room. "Thought maybe you fell in the sink or som'thin'."

"Ha, you wish." She shot back, exchanging verbal jousts and matching grin for grin.

"So...what now then? Just...sit 'round for a day an' then be off?" He asked leaning back hopefully. But Rose gave him a sly grin. There was no way he'd be off that easy this time.

"Actually, I thought we'd go into town—the three of us—and look for a present or two for my mum." The Doctor frowned at this grim fate of shopping, but Rose noticed that Al's interest was perked. "Oh, an' she wanted us to pick up a few things for her...paint, plates, napkins, a cake, ice cream, some take out..."

"Oh, just a few things then?" The Doctor retorted, cutting off her listings.

"Yes. An'...you'll be comin' with me, right?" Rose added a note of uncertainty in her words, as if he actually had a say in the matter. "I mean, after all, you're not gonna just stay here an' sit with mum, listening to her all day, instead of helpin' me carry all'a her things...right?"

The Doctor glanced wide-eyed up at her, understanding prospects, glanced over at a grinning Al, and then back up at Rose.

"Well, no time to waste...lots of things to see, stuff to haul around for hours. Tell you're mum we wont be back for a very, very long time..." He strode out of the room, leaving the two to stare in his wake. Rose traded glances with Al and both just broke down into laughter. "Well, come on! Or am I going to do this myself?" The Doctor asked, sounding miffed as he poked his head back around the corner.

"Yah, alright. Lemme just go and get my wallet." Rose giggled and walked back to the kitchen. Watching her go, the Doctor suddenly turned back to the small, grinning child.

"An' not a word from you." He commanded with a shake of the finger. She merely raised her eyebrows and continued to grin her secret.

Two hours later, the Doctor was reconsidering the agreement and as he dropped exhausted onto a stone bench, he wondered how long it would take Rose to notice he had disappeared if he made a run for the TARDIS. Perhaps, if he was real quiet, he could dash off, leaving the stack of bags and boxes piled up on the bench...maybe she'd think he was still under all of them, buying him time...

"You're being silly." Al spoke up. Looking over, the Doctor watched as she sat down next to him and began to swing her legs.

"Oh, I'm the one being silly, am I? Huh? I'm not the one who needs a gazillion things to throw a small, insignificant party!" He huffed.

"You're just sore cause you hate to sit still for so long..." Al shrugged. "Plus, you can't remember when your birthday is, so you can't have a party yourself."

"I—" The Doctor shouted, flustered, then glowered at the street sign, and grumbled. "I remember fine, it's just hard to recalculate the differences of time and calendars on the different planets."

"Whatever..."Al replied in a sing-song voice then shrugged again, smiling to herself as they waited on Rose. Time passes between them, the earth moved and people streamed around them like ghosts.

"Ohhhhhhhh...where IS SHE?!" The Doctor sighed frustrated. Sure, he had agreed to this form of torture, but now Rose was taking way too long.

"You shouldn't get so attached..." Al shrugged nonchalantly. He just looked over at her, his dark expression unreadable. "You shouldn't, you know. They were always telling you that..."

"Oh, right, like I should have listened to them..." He spat back. Looking up at the patchy sky, a wry smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "You know," The Doctor grinned, leaning over towards the small child, his elbows resting on his lanky knees. "I don't recall ever listening to a word they said, do you?"

"Hmmmm..." Al mock-thought about it, played along. "You know, I don't recall anything along that nature either."

"Hmm..." He agreed and with a glance, their eyes met and they both broke out in laughter.

"You kno---" Al began to say something when she suddenly winced, clutching at her ear. The Doctor had only a moment to look concerned before he too doubled over, clutching at the side of his head. Then, just as quickly as it began, they stopped.

They sat there, unmoving, panting in short breaths.

The Doctor recovered first, his hands clenched into fists, tight on his knees, shoulders hunched, and looked up at Al. It had hit her harder in her freshly recovered state, and she was still panting heavily, one hand clutching at her chest over on of her hearts. She glanced up at him, fear and weakness shining behind her eyes.

"Doc--" She began to say, and then the world tipped over once more.

He blinked. He had blinked and she was gone. Like a candle flame in the wind, she had just...disappeared. Gone, like she hadn't been there at all.

"Ok Doctor I..." He heard Rose, turned to look at her, and the world tipped a third time.


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry for the looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong wait, folks! I had to go on a school-issued hiatus, then started a job at a new position, and am just now getting back into each story's particular groove. Thanks for bearing with me, and thanks for reading!

Please enjoy!!

* * *

Rose froze in place. He was right there. The Doctor, her Doctor, was only ten feet away from her. She had called out to him, about to assure him that the errands were over and done with, when he had turned to look at her. Looked right at her, with a mixture of emotions in his eyes that she had never seen before. Rose could barely place them; fear? The Doctor couldn't be afraid. He never was afraid. The word fear was something never associated with her Time Traveling friend. Yet, he was. And now, he was gone. 

"Doctor!" She shouted, running those last few feet, the bags in her hands forgotten as she lunged at the empty bench. Nothing was there; no packages, no Al, no Doctor. He was gone...he was gone and now, in a sea of people, she was alone.

Rose sat on the empty stone bench; its surface seeming rough and cold to her touch. Wrapping her arms around herself, the gravity of the situation sunk deep within her, choking her. "Doctor..." She sobbed. Suddenly, the concrete sidewalk she was staring at blurred, then slid away, much like the tide slowly slipping away from the beach.

She was aware of nothing, then something; a warm something with a pulse, then a rhythm, and finally, a sense of being once more. As the ground beneath her feet became solid to the touch once more, she became aware of sound and sight.

"—and I mean right now!" The Doctor was shouting, standing in the shadows, his hands balled in anger, and his face only inches from another's.

"Doctor?" Rose asked, unsteady. He turned, looked at her dubiously, then turned back to the other man in the shadows.

"Well...then...good job." He quipped, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets for a moment, then jogged over to Rose. "You alright?" He asked, his voice low.

"Yah, I'm fine...just a bit dizzy...what happened back there?" She replied, leaning towards him for stability. The shadowy figure stepped forward, and Rose clutched at the Doctor's jacket. "Doctor, where are we?"

"Hm?" He asked, then looked over at the figure and then back at Rose. "Oh! Ah, we happen to be on the...sorry, _under_ the planet of the ninth moon's sun, otherwise known as the Sea of Bolivian." The figure bowed at the planet's introduction, and in the proper light, Rose could see him clearly. Clad in a red toga-like robe, which seemed to be showing off his green skin more than necessary, the figure was some sort of human-fish hybrid, with slits for a nose and large, pupil-less eyes. Or, perhaps, the black eyes were nothing but pupil, she speculated, as a membrane-like film flitted open and shut across the blank exposure. Eyelids, she guessed.

"Right...and...what just happened?" Rose asked again, tearing her eyes away from the fish-like figure.

"They have been summoned." The fish-man said suddenly, his voice surprisingly light and airy, compared to his look. "Please come, the council is ready and have been waiting for quite some time."

The Fish-man silently led the trio though a maze of marble hallways, the sounds of their footsteps echoing sharply throughout the halls. All around her, Rose noticed a cold lack of statues or art that a person would imagine a grand palace to have. In fact, there was nothing. Shivering a little, she hugged her arms to her chest and stepped quicker to stay in time with the Doctor's long strides. Rose was amazed at how well the child's short legs kept pace with his long ones, and a second shiver ran down her spine.

"You may change here." The Fish-man offered, indicating rooms with his palms outstretched. Hesitating, both Rose and Al looked to the Doctor as they paused in the middle of the hallway. After a beat, he nodded slightly, and they followed him into the indicated rooms. Three rooms faced them as they entered, and after a few moments, each picked a room for their own.

Rose wrinkled her nose at the cold bareness of the place. The tiled flooring was hard and echoed her every movement. There was nothing but a single peg in the wall, upon which hung a dress. Pausing in assessment, Rose concluded how to manage to get it on (for it was nothing like the dresses back on earth) and began to undress and redress.

As she finished dressing, she took note of her reflection across the marbled walls. The dress was odd, surely, but also had a gentle quality to it. She smoothed her hands down the sides, taking note of the way it flowed and wavered with each motion. The collar was high cut, running up the sides of her neck and trailing down across her chest to behind her shoulder blades. A second collar, running over her shoulders, seemed more decorative than anything else with its in sewn jewels, served as a tie-in between the fabrics running beneath the collars. Deeps violets and reddish purples shimmered down her waist, and the hem trailed slightly across the ground as she walked. _Should have gone with the pumps with the heels;_ she thought to herself, giggling quietly.

Stepping around the corner, she began to look for the Doctor and Al. Al stepped around the corner of her own dressing room right after Rose, and blinked up at her silently. Al's dress was styled much the way Rose's was; but where Rose's dress bore a range of hues styled in the purples and reds, Al was swathed in lighter blues and teals. Taking Rose by surprise, the child leaned close for a moment; acting like a real child would, and gave her a small hug. Rose returned the motion in the same silence.

As she straightened, Rose caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye. When she turned, she was stuck breathless. Across the aisle was the Doctor. Dressed in deep, royal blues, he leaned against the marbled wall stoically, a frown creasing his face. His robe was styled in the same manner, with alterations to the outfit (more in the style of a tunic and robe) and the addition of a small shawl-like cape that draped, closed, across his chest.

He looked majestic.

Rose could suddenly understand why she was never afraid when she was with him. No matter what the danger, no matter what they were facing, she never had been afraid. That there, standing before her was the reason why. A power resonated from him, an unseen and unspoken power, a feeling that marred his innocent appearance as a force not to be reckoned with. He took her breath away once again as he turned his head to look across the room at her with those soulful blue eyes.

"Rose." His lips formed the silent words, unspoken, and he nodded his head for her to join him. With a tiny shiver, she did, little Al trailing behind her like a silent shadow. As the three of them met, the Fish-man once again appeared from the marble's shadow.

"Please. Come. The council has been waiting for quite some time to begin." With a slight bow, the Fish-man bid them to follow, and into the darkness, they did.

* * *

Whoo! A bit of personal intrest between them, eh? Suprised me too, but, hey! They're the ones telling this tale! A million and one thanks to the amazing Jessica Idres for the inspiration for the costumes (which will be fully explained in the next chapter). For a look at the amazing piece that inspired their costumes, take a look at: 

www. jesidres. deviantart. com

Click on gallery, go to the second page, and click on the fourth picture in the first row. I tried to upload a link earilier, but would have nothing to do with it, so you'll just have to follow the scavenger hunt instructions. But, believe me, its more than worth it!! Take a look at the other awsome artwork she has and laugh at a few of the Whooligans!!

Thanks again, Jessica!!!


	17. Chapter 17

Passing though great stone doors that slid silently open, Rose was found staring into a vast room, filled with warm, golden light. Like a ballroom fit for the Queen herself, the marble room could hold half of London, easily. Tables that rose from the flooring in the same solid color looked like rock formations were scattered among the outer rim, their tops smoothed flat from eons of time wearing them down. Down the center of the room was a vast table, seating for a hundred and fifty, (_or more_, she thought) with proper placings for a king's banquet.

She then realized that the room was staring back at her.

Six beings were seated around the table's length at various intervals. Around them buzzed at least thirty other peoples, their attire less bold than the seven. As Rose watched the room's inhabitants, she began to realize that the six people seated were dressed in similar manners as themselves; rich, bold colors, jewelry adorning them in various places, and an air of haughty annoyance seemed to sound in the silent room.

"Announcing," The fish-man suddenly proclaimed, and anyone who had yet to notice the four newcomers stopped what they were doing to turn at stare. "The Doctor, and associates."

Rose felt her face grow warm at the sudden, unblinking attention. Turning slightly to look at the Doctor, she noticed how still he stood, his chin held high, like a prince or a king. Taking comfort from his stoic gaze, she turned back to face the crowded room. Slowly, the six seated members clapped lightly and the Doctor seemed to take that as a cue. Taking the steps with an even stride, the Doctor led Rose and Al down into the main part of the room, down to the table…


	18. Chapter 18

The Doctor led Rose and Al to long, marble table. Standing beside one chair, he leaned down, bracing his hands on the table, and looked about, taking in each seated member's face.

"Thank you." He announced, his voice echoing slightly in the vast room. "For inviting us. We are happy to represent our respective portion of the universe of today." A light spattering of applause punctuated his declaration.

"Please, Doctor, sit and relax. You and your associates are welcomed here today." One of the creatures said. Dressed in a sharp yellow, the toga-styled outfit clashed with his acid green skin. His face was similar to that of a chicken hawk, Rose noted, with furious golden eyes. Creature number one gestured with three-fingered hands, beckoning the Doctor to sit. "Feast, and let us begin!"

Looking to the Doctor, Rose watched as he bowed his head slightly and took his seat. Rose and Al followed suit, quickly taking a seat on either side of him. Dishes were laid out before them on the table; an assortment of different foods and fruits decorated the dishes in a colorful array. Half of the items didn't even look edible to Rose, but she swallowed hard, and hoped the Doctor knew what was safe, so she could follow his lead.

A second creature, dressed in an deep blood red, stood at the head of the table. It was similar to the fish-man that led the trio down to this room; only this one was more of a gray color. It stood tall, its eyes glassy-green, and gazed over the entire room.

"Beings, creatures, inhabitaters. I thank you for joining us here today, on this the anniversary of the Treaty of All." Rose glanced, curious, at the Doctor, but neither he nor Al looked phased at this title, and she filed it under the list of things she was going to ask the Doctor later. The fish-guy was continuing. "And, on such an important occasion, I ask that once again, the Beings of Seven convene, and reinforce that which has brought peace to our Universe." A splatter of applause punctuated his statement, and the fish-guy gave a small bow from the waist before continuing again. "Thank you. So, tonight, we feast. And tomorrow, discussions begin."

A rally cry of general agreement set up from around the table. People began passing plates, the thirty or so servants buzzed around the table, filling goblets with a rosy-colored liquid, and the six beings began chattering noisily. Rose took this chance to inspect the six other creatures.

At the head of the table was the Gray Fish-man. Dressed in a blood red toga, his green skin was grayed by age; his pupil-less eyes a filmy black. His motions were lethargic, as if his joints had arthritis. He moved slowly, and ate each bite gingerly.

Glancing clockwise, Rose studied the next figure. Possibly a female creature, the being was dressed in an icy blue color and seemed to be a cross between an overgrown ferret and an octopus. Her skin was covered with shorthaired fur, decorated with a sandy brown color, and it covered her whole body. She had four arms coming from her torso, two more seemed to grow from her back, near her shoulder blades, and two more formed human-like legs. Two eyes peered out inquisitively from a flat, ferret-like face as she glanced about.

Next to her was an insect-like man, build like a human-sized praying mantis. He wore a brilliant green toga, which draped loosely over his thin body segments. With skin colored in an elegant purple hue, the mantis-figure had overly large eyes and a small mouth (_sans the mouth parts, thank goodness!_ Rose reflected), which he was now eating with.

Next came the chicken hawk-man, dressed in a yellow. The acid green skin seemed to shimmer as he moved and his golden eyes seemed to glare at everything in sight as he ate (more like tore apart) his meal.

On the other side of the table, a female creature that looked like a cross between a chimp and a collie dog chatted happily with the mantis-man. With a thick mane of fur framing her face, Rose thought she actually looked somewhat pretty, if not odd. Her toga was a rich orange, which complimented her collie dog pattern.

Next to the collie-woman, a short metallic coral-gray rock creature dressed in purple sat, grumpily picking at its plate. Rose wasn't quite sure what to think of this being, so she moved pass him quickly.

Last was a bizarre tangle of plant mass. It had no robe, but that was understandable to Rose. She couldn't tell if it even had a form or a face, since there were no features to distinguish its parts. Rose sighed, glancing down at her plate.

"The mantis-like man is a Foamasi." Al suddenly whispered. Turning, Rose saw her leaning back, peeking around from behind the Doctor, and smiled back at her. "And the collie person is actually an Argolin. They're pretty nice. That guy on the left to the host ambassador is a Haemovore. You are going to want to keep your distance there. It's under the code of peace, but that doesn't mean it still isn't toxic."

Rose smiled back, mouthing "Thank you" and watched as Al gave her a wink, then bit deeply into a green-and-yellow striped fruit. Rose glanced at her own food, then picked up a small bit of the same fruit and took a small nibble. It tasted strongly of cherries. Smiling to herself, Rose dug in like the rest of the table, and enjoyed her meal.


End file.
